The contribution of the Medicines Use Review (MUR) consultation to counseling practice in community pharmacies
2011

Understanding Medicines Use Review Consultations in Community Pharmacies

Sample size: 54 publication 10 minutes Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Latif Asam, Pollock Kristian, Boardman Helen F.

Primary Institution: University of Nottingham

Hypothesis

What is the contribution of the Medicines Use Review consultation to counseling practice in community pharmacies?

Conclusion

Pharmacists failed to fully realize the opportunity offered by MURs being constrained by situational pressures.

Supporting Evidence

  • Patients reported that MURs did not improve their knowledge and rarely affected their use of medicines.
  • Pharmacists often dominated the consultations with closed questions.
  • Many patients felt unprepared for the MUR consultations and viewed them as a task for the pharmacist rather than a personal consultation.

Takeaway

Pharmacists are supposed to help patients understand their medicines better, but they often rush through consultations and don't ask enough questions.

Methodology

Qualitative study involving ten weeks of observations in two community pharmacies and interviews with patients and pharmacy staff.

Potential Biases

The presence of the researcher may have influenced the behavior of pharmacy staff and patients during the MUR consultations.

Limitations

The study was limited to two pharmacies and the observations were made by one researcher, which may affect the generalizability of the findings.

Participant Demographics

{"gender":{"men":15,"women":39},"mean_age":{"independent_pharmacy":65,"multiple_pharmacy":72}}

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1016/j.pec.2011.05.007

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